A major new exhibition at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art explores the intertwined careers of artists Lee Krasner and Jackson Pollock, shedding light on Krasner’s artistic legacy and her role in promoting her husband’s work. The show, titled *Krasner and Pollock: Past Continuous*, opened in 2026 and will run through January 31, 2027.

Curators David Breslin and Brinda Kumar spent three years assembling the exhibition, which features more than 120 paintings, including pieces by contemporaries such as Modigliani, Matisse, Picasso and de Kooning. The comprehensive presentation traces the careers of both artists, highlighting their creative exchanges while acknowledging the significant differences in their trajectories and public recognition.

While Pollock’s rise to fame was rapid and intense, Krasner’s art career extended steadily over decades, including two decades after Pollock’s death in a 1956 car accident. Despite her accomplishments—such as being one of the few women artists to receive a solo retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art and having works valued in the multimillion-dollar range—Krasner often remained overshadowed by Pollock. Gender dynamics of the mid-20th century art world, along with her own pragmatic decision to support Pollock’s career, contributed to this disparity.

“She was a great champion of Pollock’s work, but also acutely aware of the gender politics of the time,” Breslin said. Krasner took on multiple roles, including managing publicity for Pollock, even as her own artistic progress stagnated during his rise. Kumar noted, “When Pollock was taking off, Krasner’s career was static.”

The exhibition revisits a pivotal moment in 1942 when Krasner and Pollock met at a New York exhibition curated by artist John Graham at McMillen Inc., a show notable for introducing the New York School alongside European modernists. At the time, Krasner was well-connected in the art world, while Pollock was more reclusive. The Met exhibition re-creates elements of that gallery to immerse visitors in the period’s artistic environment.

Krasner and Pollock lived and worked together in Long Island from 1945, mutually influencing each other’s work despite their differing backgrounds—Krasner as an academically trained New Yorker, Pollock as a more instinctive artist shaped by the American West and Indigenous and Mexican muralist traditions. Krasner introduced Pollock to the work of Henri Matisse, whose 1951 retrospective at MoMA notably influenced them both, particularly through the use of color and abstraction.

Breslin and Kumar emphasized that their goal was not to draw direct comparisons or measure influence in terms of “who did what first,” but rather to present each artist on their own terms while acknowledging their creative adjacency. The exhibition’s title, *Past Continuous*, comes from a late series of Krasner’s paintings named after different verb tenses, symbolizing the ongoing dialogue between past and present in their work.

“Krasner said, ‘I believe in continuity. The past is part of the present, which becomes part of the future,’” Kumar said, underscoring the curators’ intent to highlight the lasting impact both artists have on contemporary art. The exhibition aims to reveal both the interconnections and disparities in their legacies, giving renewed attention to Krasner’s vital contributions to modern art.